SF Julian Caldwell scored 19 pts and SG Tyler Payne came off the bench to score 16 as Fullerton edged visiting Santa Monica, 68-63, Tuesday night at The Hornets' Nest.
Fullerton (5-7) took a 62-56 lead with under two minutes to go, and held on thanks to four free throws by Caldwell and two more by PF Dakoda Allinson, all in the final 20.9 seconds.
Fullerton led much of the game, opening a 10-point lead midway through the first half and holding a 4-point edge at halftime. Santa Monica (4-4) rallied to take a 41-40 lead early in the fourth quarter, and the lead went back and forth until Fullerton went on the 11-4 run to lead, 62-56, after a Payne 3-pointer.
Santa Monica got a 3-pointer from SG William Taylor with 1:18 left to make it 62-59, and had numerous chances to get closer. After Fullerton Ctr Khalfani Williams was called for a charging foul - his 5th of the night on every scorebook except the official one - with 56.5 seconds left, Taylor missed a would-be game-tying 3-pointer moments later.
Williams grabbed the rebound and Fullerton called timeout, but on the restart PF David Nwaba stole the inbounds pass and Williams fouled SF DeAndre Henderson as he tried a lay-up. That was ruled to be Williams' final foul of the night with 27.2 seconds left.
But Henderson missed both free throws. Nwaba got the rebound for Santa Monica and was fouled with 24.6 seconds left, but he too missed both resulting free throws, and this time Allinson got the rebound for Fullerton.
Caldwell was fouled with 20.9 seconds left and made two free throws to make it 64-59. Henderson made two free throws for the Corsairs with 8.8 seconds left to make it 64-61. But Caldwell made two more free throws with 7.8 seconds left to restore the Hornets' 5-point lead. Henderson made two more free throws with 2.2 seconds left to make it 66-63, but Allinson made two free throws for Fullerton with 1.3 seconds left to finally clinch the win.
Fullerton trailed early, 7-5, but then 5-7 SG Eddie Sparks entered the game and was the...um...spark behind a quick 9-0 run. He made two short jumpers, then assisted on a jumper by Payne to make it 12-7. Then he blocked a shot on the defensive end, which led to a jumper by PF Chris Lewis that made it 14-7.
Fullerton stretched its lead to seven points at 17-10 on a driving lay-up by Caldwell, and to ten on back-to-back putback baskets by PF Rufus Jemison that made it 25-15 midway through the first half.
Santa Monica rallied, cutting the deficit to a single point at 28-27 after a 3-pointer by SG Madison Higgins with 1:20 left in the first half. Payne hit a three for Fullerton to push the Hornet lead back to four at halftime, 31-27.
Caldwell hit a 3-pointer to begin the second half and push Fullerton's lead back to seven at 34-27, but Santa Monica quickly rallied. A bakset by Nwaba off a pass from PG Keilan Horton made it a one-point game again at 36-35. Nwaba scored off a pass from Henderson at about the 10-minute mark to give Santa Monica a 41-40 lead.
The lead went back and forth over the next several minutes, with Santa Monica holding its last lead at 54-53 with about four minutes left. Then Caldwell scored on a 3-point play with 3:57 left to give Fullerton a 56-54 lead, and Allinson converted a 3-point play with 3:12 left to make it 59-54. Payne's 3-pointer made it 62-56, which proved to be just enough of a lead for the Hornets to hold onto for the win.
Caldwell finished with 17 pts, 7 rebs, 2 asts and 4 steals for the Hornets. Payne came off the bench and made 6 of 8 shots, including 4 threes, for his 16 pts. No other Hornet scored in double digits, but Allinson came off the bench for 7 pts, 5 rebs, an assist, a block and a steal.
For Santa Monica, Nwaba had game-highs of 25 pts, 12 rebs and 5 blocked shots, and he also had 4 steals. But no other Corsair scored in double figures. Ctr Admassu Williams had 8 pts, 7 rebs and 2 blocked shots. Henderson had 6 pts, 4 rebs, 4 steals and a game-high 8 asts.
box score
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - 5:30 pm
at The Hornets' Nest, Fullerton
Santa Monica Corsairs 63:
0-DeAndre Henderson, SF - 1/3 fg, 4/6 ft, 4 reb, 8 ast, 4 stl, 5 pf, 6 pts
1-Madison Higgins, SG - 2/8 fg, 5 reb, 2 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
11-David Nwaba, PF - 10/17 fg, 5/11 ft, 12 reb, 1 ast, 5 blk, 4 stl, 1 pf, 25 pts
12-Winfred Clark, PG - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
32-Admassu Williams, C - 2/5 fg, 4/4 ft, 7 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 8 pts
10-Keilan Horton, G - 0/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
21-J'Ryon Moss, F - 1/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 2 blk, 2 pf, 3 pts
3-Jiovanni Romano, G - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 1 pt
14-William Taylor, G - 2/11 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 6 pts
22-Damon Harvin, F - 1/3 fg, 2 pts
5-Adam Griffin, G - 1/3 fg, 1/3 ft, 4 pts
4-Michael Ratliff, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 10
Totals: 20/65 fg (.308), 18/30 ft (.600), 49 reb, 14 ast, 9 blk, 14 stl, 18 pf, 63 pts
3-pt fg (5): Higgins 2, Taylor 2, Griffin
Fouled Out: Henderson 1.3 seconds left
Turnovers (22): Clark 5, Henderson 4, Higgins 3, Nwaba 3, Horton 3, Romano 3, team
Fullerton Hornets 68:
1-Jason Payne, SG - 0/7 fg, 2 reb, 0 pts
11-Rufus Jemison, PF - 3/5 fg, 5 reb, 4 ast, 4 pf, 6 pts
12-Amin Sahwani, PG - 1/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 pf, 3 pts
21-Khalfani Williams, C - 2/5 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 4 blk, 6 pf, 4 pts
23-Julian Caldwell, SF - 5/16 fg, 7/7 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 2 pf, 19 pts
5-Eddie Sparks, G - 2/3 fg, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 4 pts
2-Tyler Payne, G - 6/8 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 16 pts
45-Dakoda Allinson, F - 2/7 fg, 3/3 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
35-Kessio Viegas, C - 1/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 7 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
34-Chris Lewis, F - 3/5 fg, 3 reb, 3 pf, 6 pts
20-James Mansfield, F - 1/2 ft, 1 pt
25-Marquice Childress, G - 0/1 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 25/66 fg (.379), 12/15 ft (.800), 42 reb, 16 ast, 6 blk, 5 stl, 19 pf, 68 pts
3-pt fg (6): T.Payne 4, Caldwell 2
Fouled Out: Williams 27.2 seconds left
Turnovers (21): Caldwell 7, Allinson 4, Sahwani 3, Williams 3, Jemison 2, Sparks 2
Halftime Score: Fullerton 31, Santa Monica 27
Updated Records: Fullerton 5-7, Santa Monica 4-4
Santa Monica led 54-53 with about 4 mins left. Fullerton went on an 11-4 run to lead, 62-56. Caldwell made 4 FTs and Allinson and made 2 FTs all in the last 20.9 seconds to clinch the win for Fullerton.
